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Report on Larijani Attack Reveals Factional Divide in Iran

A special report on the February attack on parliament speaker Ali Larijani in Qom reveals an organized campaign to disrupt the public events of political rivals.
EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. 
Iran's Parliament speaker Ali Larijani speaks to the media during a news conference in Tehran November 30, 2011. Britain has evacuated all its diplomatic staff from Iran, Western diplomatic sources told Reuters on Wednesday, a day after protesters stormed and ransacked its embassy and residential compound. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2UN

TEHRAN, Iran — When parliament speaker Ali Larijani was attacked with prayer stones and shoes in the city of Qom on Feb. 10, a powerful figure with ties in the upper echelon of power in the Islamic Republic of Iran seemed truly vulnerable for the first time. Larijani, who has been the speaker of parliament for the last six years, has also presided over the powerful Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, served as the minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and as the interim commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Larijani’s experience and political clout made him appear invincible. However, when he was insulted and attacked at the 35th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran during his speech at the shrine of Masumah, his public humiliation received wide coverage in both domestic and foreign press.

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